So, I must admit that when I first saw the de Buyer Swing Mandoline at chefscatalog.com I was totally smitten with the design and the cute colors! It also got decent reviews, and at $99.99 the price was (relatively) right. I definitely did not want to drop $230.00 or $150.00 on another de Buyer model, and I didn't want something cheap. The only problem was that I really needed an excuse to get it. So, when I came upon this recipe for grilled potato, gorgonzola, and proscuitto pizza at thekitchn.com (sister site to apartmenttherapy.com) that required (well, I'll say required because you need to slice the potatoes REALLY thin and I can't do that unassisted.) the use of a mandoline, I jumped at the "perfect excuse" to purchase the de Buyer.
I chose the lovely green color (shown below, far left), clicked a few buttons, gave my credit card information and voila! I was the soon-to-be owner of a de Buyer. I anxiously awaited its arrival, and paced in front of the door daily. The second after the postman appeared with it I
ran over to the store to procure the ingredients for my pizza. Most importantly, the tiny red potatoes that would allow me to try out my new toy.Upon returning home I opened up the package and took out my new mandoline. It was gorgeous, but I have to admit, at first, I was a little intimidated. It looked much more complex than my mandoline of yore. First of all, it was much larger than I had expected. Secondly, it had all these removable parts. I grabbed a glass of wine and retired to the couch with the instruction manual. Turns out, it's a pretty simple contraption. So I strolled back into the kitchen to give it a go.
The de Buyer comes with two blades: the double horizontale blade, and the double julienne blade. The horizonatale blade has one straight side and one serrated side. One for slices, one for crinkles. The julienne blade has a large julienne side, and a small julienne side to produce sticks or french fries. Using the blades is super easy. First you choose what kind of cut you want, for my purposes it was slices, so I chose the horizontale blade. Then you face the side that you want toward the mandoline handle (the top.) It slides in really easily and you will hear a soft snap when it locks into place. Then you choose how thick you want your slices to be. I wanted mine to be mega thin. You just loosen the knobs on either side of the mandoline, choose your thickness and then tighten them up again. Then you pop your pushing plate onto the mandoline, put your potato down and press the pusher handle onto it. The pusher has little grippers in it that grab the food and secure it into place.
After that it was like learning a new African dance. There's a rhthym to it. It's a smooth, gliding motion with your arm. I was totally amazed at how easy it was, and how fun! One thing that really impressed me was that it did not slide away from me as my previous tool had. It stayed glued to its spot. I really felt like I had a lot of control over the tool. Not to mention that upon finishing a potato, I looked underneath the mandoline and realized that I had PERFECT potato slices. There is NO WAY that I could have done that by hand. They were as thin as paper.
Now I find myself slicing up onions and cucumbers for salad, making french fries, or jicama sticks for lunch boxes. I use it all the time. It's easy to use and easy to clean! Totally convenient and practical for the home gourmet. So get out there and get your own and start slicing, because you can't borrow mine! :)
